Approvals
No appeals were launched related to the zoning application and so the re-zoning is complete. The City has approved the severance of the property and Teron has received approval in principle for the site plan. The Application for a building permit will be made in the next couple of weeks. It is expected that the site plan approval process will be completed and a foundation permit issued by December 1. With these approvals, construction will start. Completion will be late winter in 2007.

Payment
The legal agreement has been signed with payment of $50,000 in trust. The sale will be finalized just before the start of construction. At that time, the $50,000 will be released and St John's will receive an additional $150,000. The remaining $800,000 will be a mortgage at 5%. It is expected that the mortgage will be paid off within three months of the start of construction.

Reservations
Reservations are proceeding well. Of the 117 units, 86 are presently reserved. Ten of these units have been reserved by the Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI) to purchase and rent to low income households. A description of this proposal follows.

New Capital Funding Available for Affordable Housing
The province of Ontario has recently signed an agreement with the federal government to provide matching funding for affordable housing. This fiscal year the province will support 500 housing units under its "Strong Start" program - all municipalities have been invited to submit proposals. In response, the City of Ottawa has just released a request for proposals (RFP), offering capital grants of up to $90,000 per unit to projects that are at an advanced stage of development. Our condominium development, Somerset Gardens, is one such project. The deadline for applications is October 7.

Proposal by the Multifaith Housing Initiative (MHI)
MHI proposes to purchase 10 one bedroom units in Somerset Gardens at an average cost per unit of $150,000, with the assistance of the $90,000 per unit capital grant offered under the RFP. Six of these units would be rented at no more than $500 per month (to households on the City of Ottawa Housing Registry), while the remaining 4 would be rented at no more than $770 per month (to households with incomes of less than $31,000).

MHI has contacted its membership (over 40 faith communities) as well as individuals regarding this initiative. It is seeking commitments for loans (no-interest, low-interest, RRSP mortgages, and equity) and donations from its membership, in order to demonstrate the viability of the proposed purchase in its application. The goal is to raise $600,000, and as much as possible before the application deadline. The money would not be needed until late 2006 at the earliest, when the condominium is ready for occupancy and hence the units would be purchased by MHI.

Contribution by St John's Affordable Housing Committee
The Affordable Housing Fund at St John's presently has about $14,000 accumulated from individual donations and Loblaws Gift Cards. At its meeting on September 19, the Affordable Housing Committee agreed to donate $12,000 of this money to MHI to assist in the purchase of the 10 units. The Committee will also donate $500 to MHI to hire a development consultant to assist in the preparation of the application for funding. Chris Teron will complete the sections of the application related to the project development.